There is not even a sign at the summit indicating one has reached the Continental Divide, nor is there even a marker pointing out you're at North Cochetopa Pass. Copyright ©2015 Fort on the Old Spanish Trail, Antoine Robidoux, 13 November 1837 – An Historic Inscription, Living History, Reenactments and Rendezvous, History of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, Gunnison River Bluffs – Old Spanish Trail – Links, Fort announces the 2020 Calendar of Events, Christmas at the Fort on the Old Spanish Trail. Beckwith, wrote the expedition report, concluding the route would be too costly for a railroad. Cochetopa pass in Colorado was where St. Louis boosters such as former Missouri Sen. Thomas Hart Benton and mural painter Carl Wimar expected a transcontinental railroad to go on its way to California. Although a flurry of railroad building in the late 19th century saw rail lines constructed through many difficult mountain passes and canyons, no railroad was ever constructed over Cochetopa Pass. Equally important, engineers — working first on railroads and later on highways — found more direct routes through the mountains and canyons from Colorado’s Front Range to the Western Slope. Do you know any spectacular road?Click here to send us all the info, and we'll publish it! Buffaloes In The Cochetopa Pass Of The Rocky Mountains Wimar, Carl 1828-1862, Railroads left once-critical Cochetopa Pass in the dust Periodically flooded roads around the world, Privacy Policy | Advertise page | Terms and conditions of use | Cookie Policy | About us | Contact, Sawtell Peak: a well graded gravel road to the summit, UAE - The Memorable Experience Of Culture And Heritage, The Ultimate Dubai Travel Guide For First Time Traveler, Otaki Gorge Road: plunging drops to rivers and forbidding cliffs, Collada de Toses, one of the best roads anywhere in Europe. There is another pass a few miles north, called. Along the Continental Divide, Cochetopa Pass is a 10,067 ‘mountain pass with a rich human history. It connects the San Luis Valley with Gunnison Valley, and the towns of Saguache and Gunnison. This road has pretty scenery through very underpopulated land. Facebook - In 1848, the first effort to establish the route resulted in several men and horses freezing to death while others resorted to cannibalism. Another version, now called North Pass, crosses the Continental Divide a few miles to the north on paved Colorado Highway 114. google_color_url = "000000"; From this pass, all watersheds east flow into the San Luis Valley and Rio Grande watershed. Cochetopa Creek Rec Site This scenic recreation area is a destination perfect for a day of fishing. The table below lists the peaks and cols that lie on the path from Uncompahgre Peak to its Key Col and onward to its Line Parent. google_ad_type = "text_image"; Fur trader and mountain guide Antoine Leroux, for whom Leroux Creek on Grand Mesa is named, wrote about the pass in April 1853 for a Missouri newspaper. google_color_bg = "FFFFFF"; means “Buffalo Gate” in Ute. By 1874, the Saguache – San Juan Toll Road became the first wagon route to traverse Cochetopa Pass. It wasn’t that the pass itself was troublesome. “Seven miles below this point the Cochetope Creek enters Grand (Gunnison) River in a bottom eight or nine miles in length … From this point until we reached the Uncompahgre River, our route followed a very rough and broken country … it is by far the most difficult and expensive section upon the route for the construction of a road.”. Members of the Ute Indian Tribe are among the earliest known inhabitants of the Cochetopa Hills in recent human history. Instead, Gunnison received the important assignment. Note: This feature is preliminary. And then we arrived at North Cochetopa Pass. Leroux said Cochetopa Pass was routinely used by traders from Taos when the main branch of the Old Spanish Trail through Abiquiu, New Mexico, and west into Utah was too snowy. From this pass, all watersheds east flow into the San Luis Valleyand Rio Grande watershed. Cochetopa Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 3.068m (10,067ft) above the sea level, located in Saguache County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. In fact, the road is a mere bend in the road below timberline. Wagons generally stayed close to the Gunnison River and probably crossed it in several places before coming out in the area of Cimmaron River and Cimmaron Pass. Address: County Road NN14 / Forest Road 750, off of State Highway 114, between, Camping near Alamosa, Sand Dunes, and around the San Luis Valley. We want your experiences too! There is another pass a few miles north, called North Cochetopa Pass (or simply, North Pass). . It is best used from June to October, with access remaining open for snowshoe and snowmobiles in the winter. google_ad_format = "468x15_0ads_al_s"; google_color_text = "000000"; In good conditions, Cochetopa Pass can be traversed with a relatively easy drive. | 4-Wheel Drive The dense vegetation and steep canyon walls that line Cochetopa Creek provide a calm and relaxing place to fish with developed campsites and picnic areas located along the creek. It wasn’t the top of Cochetopa Pass that was the problem, but the landscape encountered afterward. google_ad_height = 280; Email Bob Silbernagel at bobsilbernagel@gmail.com. North Cochetopa Pass is not an impressive pass at all for Colorado standards. This route is the highest possible path that follows ridgecrests from the peak to higher ground. There are four murals in the rotunda of the old federal courthouse in St. Louis, painted in 1862. North Pass has replaced the need to use Cochetopa Pass, but both make for a wonderful drive. After the expedition’s leader, Captain Gunnison, was killed by native Indians, the project was moved north to Wyoming. In one section, the road travels through a rocky canyon. Jon Horn of Alpine Archaeological Consultants in Montrose, who has done extensive research on the Northern Branch of the Old Spanish Trail and Cochetopa Pass, provided much of the information for this column. In the Ute language, the word “Cochetopa” translates to “Pass of the Buffalo.”, European settlers gained interest in the pass when locating possible railway lines across the. It lies on the Continental Divide, which separates the Gunnison and Rio Grande National Forests. google_ad_format = "336x280_as"; | About This Site, Copyright © www.ColoradoGuy.com - All rights reserved. All photos and my write-up about this place: http://coloradoguy.com/north-cochetopa-pass/colorado.htm google_ad_width = 468; and small mountains that dot the landscape. google_ad_client = "pub-5476340418163980"; Beckwith and Gwinn Harris Heap. Cochetopa Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 3.068m (10,067ft) above the sea level, located in Saguache County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. Along the road to and from the pass, there are many primitive camping opportunities available. The road over the pass is 42.32km (26.3 miles) long, starting and ending at State Highway 114. Uncover Colorado - Vacations, Travel & Tourism | Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer. And then we arrived at North Cochetopa Pass. Sagebrush steppe west of Cochetopa Pass, Colorado. There is not even a sign at the summit indicating one has reached the Continental Divide, nor is there even a marker pointing out you're at North Cochetopa Pass. Also, there is a Cochetopa Pass in proximity that can be accessed via a dirt road; that was a popular route during Colorado's settlement days. In 1858, when the U.S. Army was looking for a way to supply troops involved in fighting Mormons in Utah, it constructed what became known as the Salt Lake Wagon Road over Cochetopa Pass. Once closer to Saguache, the grand views of the this spot is sometimes named "North Pass", but its real name is North Cochetopa Pass. Both Beckwith and Gwinn Harris Heap, who traveled over the pass earlier in 1853 with the Beale Expedition, marveled at how gradual the ascent and descent to the pass were. By Bob Silbernagel Also, there is a Cochetopa Pass in proximity that can be accessed via a dirt road; that was a popular route during Colorado's settlement days. //-->. Cochetopa Pass is in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado on Hwy 114. Located in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado, the road to the summit is called Saguache County Road NN14. The pass lies along the Continental Divide at 10,010 feet, a few miles north of Cochetopa Pass. North Pass is located on the main vehicle route along State Highway 114, and is slightly lower in elevation. North Cochetopa Pass - Elevation 10,135 Feet. Information also came from the Rio Grande National Forest, the National Park Service and the reports of Lt. E.G. North Pass (aka North Cochetopa Pass, "Cochetopa" is the Ute Indian word for "pass of the buffalo") has a elevation is 10,010 ft (3,050 m) and is a mountain pass that runs over the Continental Divide in Saguache County, Colorado. Photo: It connects the San Luis Valley with Gunnison Valley, and the towns of Saguache and Gunnison. Both have been called Cochetopa Pass at various times, and each was used by pack trains and wagons in years past. Pinterest,